Get Back to Starship
by Moonshoes94
Summary: Team Starkid are coming together again, this time to put on Starship 2. Follow them through all the highs and lows of putting on a production and day to day Starkid life. AUTHOR NOTE: THIS IS COMPLETELY FICTION ALL OF THE EVENTS THAT TAKE PLACE ARE FICTIONAL AND THE WAY THE STARKIDS REACT TO THEM ARE ALSO SO, ANY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STARKIDS ARE ALSO FICTION. T RATING FOR LANGUAG
1. Good to be Back

**Hey Guys**

**A quick authors note but IMPORTANT. As I mentioned in the summary I am not stating this is how the Starkids act its completely fictional based mostly on the way they present themselves on stage which is obviously an built up version of themselves and any romances or relationships of of kinds between the Starkids is also completely fictional except that there all obviously close friends/ family. **

**Reviews are welcome as with all my fanfictions but please no hate mail.**

**I have a second chapter that is finished but I want to start my third before I release it. I have just finished college and now have all the summer to write so there shouldn't be any long breaks. **

**This story is about all the Starkids that were apart of the first Starship and maybe some of the HMB cast and not just a few couples or specific people so no matter who's your favorite they'll all be equally included eventually.**

**Thanks and Enjoy XX. **

* * *

"Okay guys come drop down in minus 10 minutes"

"For dead god sake Walker shut the hell up"

"Don't be mean to me Lopez cause it hurts my feelings" Joe slipped easily into his Up voice as he saw Lauren walked around the corner into the hall chuckling.

"It's good to be going back to Starship" Joe couldn't help bursting into laughter. "what did I say"

"Good to be going back"

"Damn it can't I say anything any more without it referencing one of are shows" Joe only shrugged in return "Where are the rest of them"

"You tell me Holden sent me to pick you ladies up cause he has to go get JoMo from the airport. I get here and none of you are ready"

"They must still be in bed" Lauren said as a menacing grin spread over her face causing Joe to shrink back a little in fear before she turned and began to climb the stairs.

Joe stood in silence for a minute before Laurens voice boomed through the house "Wake up" shortly followed by a lot of screaming and swearing as Lauren came raising down the stairs nearly knocking Joe over closely pursued by a angry Jaime Lynn who half stumbled down the stairs after her.

"You'll never catch me" Lauren chirped happily running across the top of the coach and back past Joe with Jaime still in hot pursuit.

"I'm the ginger bread man" Meredith finished bouncing down the stairs and landing in Joe arms "Joe. Wait I thought Brian was coming to pick us up" she said with a pout.

"Good to see you to Meredith"

"Really Meredith do you have to be any more obvious" said Julia stumbling down the stairs still half asleep "I mean if you were any more in love with Holden then whoa..." Julia foot caught on the edge of a step and she toppled down the last couple of steps coming to a stop at Joe and Meredith's feet. Lauren having heard what Julia said had come to a stop opposite the two.

"Wait Meredith you like Brian" to Joes's surprise Lauren sounded a little put out.

"No, I dont like Brian guys" In the time Meredith was speaking Jaime had caught up with Lauren. With a cry of victory Jaime tackled Lauren to the floor before standing up and dusting herself off "That'll teach you to wake me up in the morning" she huffed before turning back to the staircase, finally noticing Joe standing at the bottom of the stairs, his arms still wrapped around Meredith.

"Oh, hey Joe what do we owe the pleasure" Jaime said breaking into a smile.

"Uh, Brian sent me to pick you up for rehearsals" Joe stuttered out now more scared of Jaime than Lauren.

"OK, come on girls" Jaime called picking Julia off the floor and helping her up the stairs, Meredith falling instep on Julias other side. "We'll be right back Joe, help Lauren up will ya" Jaime called down. Leaving Joe in the hallway with Lauren face down on the floor. Truth be told all of those girls scared Joe to death at times.

"Joe" Lauren moaned from the floor "Can you help me up please".

* * *

Half an hour later the 5 Starkids were piling into Joe's car with hot debate over who called shotgun first and desperately trying to avoid the middle seat. In the end it was decided that thanks to her wake up call this morning Lauren would take the middle seat while Julia took the front seat.

"So Joe where are we heading" Meredith shout up form the back seat.

"To the studio, we were gonna start with a read through at the Manor but the Langs thought it might be best to give us sometime to adjust to the new work space"

"Yeah what's all that about" Julia chimed in "what happened to the old studio"

"We got kicked out after Joey and Laurens last little prank" Jaime replied fixing Lauren in her glare.

"What it was Joeys plan and it seemed like a good idea at the time"

"Yes, well not many of Joeys plans work out well to they" Jaime muttered.

It was no news that Jamie and Joey weren't on the best of terms at the moment what the Starkids didn't know was what happened still they knew well enough to leave it alone. The truth had to come out at some point and all of them knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Guys, I think were here" Joe pulled the car up by a tall building that look more like a office block than a studio and the Starkids tumbled out onto the pavement staring up at the building that was to become there home for the next 3 months or at least until they moved to the theatre.

"Well best foot forward then" Lauren said bounding off towards the entrance Meredith and Jaime falling instep behind her leaving just Julia and Joe stood on the pavement.

"Well Walker, I think it's going to be another wild ride" Julia sighed though eyes glistened with excitement.

"Yep, here we go again" he said before throwing a grin in her direction and throwing his arm around her shoulder "Now come Specs lets go get the damn job done" he said easily slipping into his Up voice causing the two of them to laugh before following the others into what was sure to be another whirlwind adventure.


	2. Old Friends and New Fame

Chicago O'Hare International Airport was packed to the brim. Students coming home from there various universities for there holidays milled through the small space and amongst them all stood one UMich alumni.

_**Ok Guys a quick author note but again an IMPORTANT one.**_

_**First a huge thank you to everyone who added this to there story alerts and special thanks to Pigwidgeon, Starkidtheatregeek, Haven14, HPNCISVictorious14 and swimfis5 for my first reviews. I have tried to take your advice on board where I can but somethings I'm doing for a reason and some of it I can't control but this chapter is longer and now covers more ground as I now have (drumroll) a story plan never tried one before but it really helps.**_

_**Which leads me into the second thing. I'm so sorry about the wait, this week has been completely crazy and I decided to put the story plan together which took more time now but will help in the future. **_

_**Third and last thing I'm going offline for a few days to do something with the internet (whatever) and I don't know when Ill next be able to update but I will try my hardest (and I work weekends so that slows me down a little)**_

_**PLEASE keep REVIEWING you have no idea how much it means to me and to all writers on this site it makes you feel determined and keeps you going even when your tired and don't really fancy doing it.**_

_**THIRD CHAPTER UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE PROMISE X**_

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Brain Holden stood in the middle of the airport and he was not happy to be there. Brian hated airports they where always claustrophobic and noisy plus Brian had seen one to many goodbyes in this airport. Brian cheered a little at the thought that today wasn't about goodbyes. JoMo was finally coming home.

A message pinged into his inbox "_I'm at the gate. C U soon. Moses". _Brian glanced towards the gate where he saw people where already beginning to pour out. Another messaged arrived "_Hey Dude, I'm going to be at the airport any minute now can you wait for me. I'll be at gate 4. Joey" _Brian sighed turning to look at the sign for gate 4 before tapping out a quick reply _"Sure, Hurry"._

"Mr Holden detention, for ignoring your friend" A smirk spread slowly across Brains face as h turned to see Joe Moses stood behind him in his signature v neck top and black waistcoat with his panda hat perched upon his head.

"Good to see you too, Joe" the two boys stood about a foot apart smiling at each other before Joe stepped forward and threw his arms around Brian who returned the hug laughing finally the two boys pulled back still smiling at one and other.

"How are you?" Brain asked clapping Joe on the back.

"Good, New York is great. But its good to be home, if only for a little while".

"Well, you know you welcome to stay as long as you want. The fans miss you."

"Ohhhhhhh. The fans right."

"Alright, so I missed you to."

"You could always come back to New York with me after the show or maybe LA I've been thinking about heading out there for a while" Joe smiled at the idea of hitting LA with one of his best friends.

"Nah dude, my place is here. For now" Brian shrugged it off.

"Yeah, but come on. Starkid is all well and good but seriously dude your turning 26 soon you should be out there making a name for yourself, setting the wheels in motion" Brain didn't respond "Ok, just think about it, yeah?" Brian nodded sadly "Anyway how's things going over here?. Anything interesting happen since last time I saw you"

"Its good, everyone's good. Ya know. Nick and Matt have been writing. Lauren and the girls all got an apartment together. Not much really " Brian shrugged off.

"How's Denise?" Joe murmured glancing to the floor ashamed to meet Brians eye.

"How do you think dude?. Better than at Leaky but she's still hurting" Brian hated to be the one giving the news. "Come on dude, its been a year you both need to move on" Joe sighed and shook his head.

"I know. I'll talk to her this is where it all began maybe this is where I can fix things for good"

"I hope so"

"I do to" Joe allowed a small smile "Now let's get going before we're later"

"Oh wait a second we need to wait for Joey"

"Did somebody say RON"

"No we said Joey" Brian turned to see you stood before him with a lopsided grin plastered on his face.

"But I'll guess you'll do" Joe finished before the 3 boys gathered together in a group hug.

"Wait" Brian said pulling out of the hug "where's Brant?"

"Ah dude, he couldn't make it. He just got this job in a some new pilot" Joey groaned.

"Wow that's awesome" Joe smiled.

"Yeah, awesome" Brian murmured the two Joes shared a glanced but both decided to allow it to drop.

The 3 guys worked their way back through the airport and climb into the back of Brians car.

"Hey Guys we have to make a stop and pick up AJ and Dylan" Brian yelled back from the drivers seat.

"Wait AJ's coming back for like the whole show" Brian nodded "Awesome I have my heart back"

"Joey you are aware that AJ isn't really your heart right" Joe cast Brian a puzzled look in the rear-view mirror. The entire car burst into fits of laughter.

"So how are things back in Chicago Brian any big drama that I missed in LA" Joey smirked.

"Yeah actually Lauren turned into a dolphin, Nick and Matt joined the military, Jim shrunk now he's 4ft2, Julia got stuck in another dimension and Meredith murdered Joe in his sleep after a fight about a joke now he wonders Starkid at night as a ghost playing practical jokes on us" the car was filled with again with laughter. "No really everyone's great. Laurens as crazy as normal, Nick and Matt are still arguing over which my little ponies best, Jims still a giant, Joe's been working on some new voice he wants to try out with one of his characters, Julia remains the calming force in the group and Meredith she's um yeah, she's great" once again the two Joe's shared a glance but aloud it to drop.

"Hey what about Jaime. Let me guess she turned into a monkey and went to space" Joe sniggered as Joey stiffened beside him.

"You alright back there Richter"

"Yeah I'm fine it's just me and Jaime haven't spoken since Leaky it's just..." Joey paused for a second his eyes seemed to go hollow and the light that usually shined from them fluttered out. The boys also knew that something had happened between Joey and Jaime but they also knew that they would have to wait until Joey was ready to talk about it. "You know what it'll be fine. Jaime and I had to start speaking again at some point and working on the show will be a good distraction"

"Guys I think that's them" Joe said pointing to the two people stood on the pavement outside Dylans apartment, the two noticed the on coming car and waved to the friends inside.

Brian pulled up at the curb and AJ and Dylan jumped in and were instantly greeted by the group.

"Hey Guys, what's happening" Dylan cheered at the guys in the back.

"Not as much as you, just back from your world tour. What was it like dude?"

"Yeah, yeah it was great there's nothing quite like being on the road, singing in front of huge crowds" Dylan smiled at the memory beside him though Brains face seemed to fall "So AJ you still haven't told us what your doing here. We thought you were heading back to New York after the whole Young Frankenstein thing".

"I was but things with the girlfriend are a bit rough and" AJ paused and glanced down at his feet "I just need to be here "So you must be next to hit the big time Bri" the boys laughed but Brian remained surprisingly silent.

"Yeah dude it's been what 2 years since you had your last job at the Disney place" Joey chimed in none of the guys seemed to see that they were making Brian more and more uncomfortable.

"Look guys, lets just move on okay" Brain murmured fixing his eyes on the road.

"Ok Brian what's going on?" Dylan said.

"Alright, so I know I haven't had a proper job or gig like you guys yet and I know I'm still here in Chicago but I don't know. I guess I'm just not ready to give up on Starkid yet".

Joe was the first to speak "Yeah that's cool dude but you need to think about your future as well and we both know Starkid ain't gonna last forever" Brian simply shook his head in return and the guys decided to let it drop.

The boys pulled up at the new studio and piled out onto the pavement.

"Hey that's Joe's car they must of beat us here" Joey said pointing to the car down the street.

"Strange I sent him to pick up the girls we must be later than I thought" Brian smirked the rest of the guys nodded in agreement.

"So this is the place huh. It looks" Dylan paused trying to find the right word "Dull"

"I know but it was all me and the Langs could find after Joey and Laurens little stint at the last place" Brian nudged Joey playfully who held up his hands in defeat "Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time" the group shared a small bout of laughter at the memory.

"Ok lets go" Dylan said leading the way with the two Joes following him in until it was just Brian and AJ stood on the pavement.

"Hey your going to be okay" AJ said giving Brain a sad smile which he half returned "You'll get your chance one day. Your amazingly talent obviously not as good as me" AJ said causing Brian to chuckle. "And don't listen to Joe Starkid is safe for the time being". The two boys smiled at each other before following the others into the studio.


	3. Reunite at the First Rehearsal

Hey Guys I'm back.

First huge thanks to my awesome reviewers urNotPERMITTEDtoTOUCH, hiilikecheese and to my returning reviewers HPNCISVictorious14, Pigwidgeon and Haven14 for all you ongoing support and input.

Next this didn't take as long as I thought so yay for that as well. I really dont have much to say this time which is weird. Oh well.

So here it is. ENJOY. PLEASE CONTINUE TO REVIEW IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME. X

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The two Joes, Brian, Dylan and AJ opened the door to the new studio to find that chaos had already ensued inside.

"Lauren don't you dare touch those or I'm coming after you" Matt was shouting at Lauren who was hovering next to the scripts piled up on the makeshift directors table to one end of the room.

"Oh come on Matt" Lauren whined.

"No not until the rest of the guys are here"

"Well it's a good thing we're here then" Moses shouted.

"Yeah Lauren looks fit to burst" Joey finished. The boys were immediately engulfed in hugs joey and Jaime looked at each other before giving a nodded of the head and parting ways, JoMo and Denise stared at each other before both broke into a small sad smile and gently embracing as the hugs continued Brian stood back from his friends a genuine smile on his face he loved seeing his friends all reunited again even if there were a few missing members and some disputes- this was starkid there was always drama-Brian glanced over to Meredith who was in a hug with Dylan. Brian felt a prang of emotion stirring in his stomach at the sight and he knew exactly why, he was crushing on Meredith. It had all started during the Apocalyptour and for a long time he had tried to deny it, it wasn't till LeakyCon - when a particularly enthusiastic fan had ask if Beredith was real and it hurt to say that there was nothing going on between them – that Brian had finally come to terms with what he was feeling and yet he still hadn't found the nerve to tell her that he liked her a little voice chimed In his head "never tell a girl you like them, it makes you look like an idiot" and he silently sniggered. He turned his attention back to his friends where the new arrivals were being bombarded by questions.

"Alright people give them a break we need to get start anyway" Julia said ever the voice of reason "Anyway you can all talk later" Matt said physically pulling Lauren off of Joey's back and dumping her in a chair while she scream "You are not permitted to touch" in her best British accent.

Joey came and sat down beside her "Don't worry Lo we'll finish are piggyback run of the new studio later".

"We better" Lauren grumbled "Its tradition"

Nick decided to ignore her comment and waited till everyone was sat down in the circle before beginning "Okay Guys. I know where all excited to be starting a new show and especially as it's going to be the sequel to Starship I know for a lot of you it was the first original musical you've done with the group" several whoops and "hell yeah starship"'s were shouted around the circle "But we have to remember that with a sequel it always has to be better than the original, so we're going to have to buckle down and work hard" Matt began to walk around the circle handing out scripts "As you can see most of you will be reviving your original roles".

"Hell yes. Listen up you idiotas" Lauren shouted from the other side of the circle in her full Taz voice before Dylan clamped his hand over her mouth effectively silencing her. The Starkids burst into fits of laughter as Lauren gave Dylan a ice cold glare, something flickered in Lauren eyes.

"Ow, she just bit me" Dylan yelled pulling his hand away from Laurens mouth and clutching it to his chest.

"Awh did that hurt you. WALK IT OFF" Lauren yelled jumping to her feet on her chair before Joey quickly pulled her back down.

"Okay guys, calm down. As I was saying most of you will be resuming your old roles. Joey you'll be playing Bug- the puppet one" Joey fist pumped the air causing Jaime to roll her eyes. "Walker you'll be playing Up. I think you know who your playing Lauren" Lauren nodded, bouncing in her chair slightly with excitement "Dylan you'll be reviving Tootsie and Meredith you'll be playing Mega-Girl"

"It will be a pleasure" Really it couldn't be more of a nightmare. Meredith loved playing Mega-Girl but doing so also meant that at some point she'd have to kiss Dylan. Normally that was no problem the two were great friends and had always been so comfortable with each other that it was never awkward but ever since LeakyCon there had been something hanging in the air between them and she had a feeling playing a married couple would just make things worse. Meredith looked Dylan who was also staring back at her looking equally uncomfortable the two continued to hold each gaze, communicating in silence as Matt continued to read off the list.

"Moses you get to play Krayonder again and this time we'll be pumping up the love interest with Specs which leads me to Julia"

"Aww Crap does that me I have to kiss Donald over there"

"Hey" Joe was trying his best to look offend but was having a tough time not laughing.

"Moving on Denise you'll be back in the role of the beautiful Schience officer"

"Wait I thought Julia was playing Specs. Confused Much" Everyone laughed at Denise as she slapped her hands on either side of her face.

"Ok now for the more difficult members of the cast. Brian, Jaime and Jim now we killed off all your characters so your going to be playing some new characters" The three nodded "OK so in this one during the first half the Rangers and Bug are going to be on the way back to Earth and Bug is going to ask how Taz became a Ranger which is going to lead to a flash back of Taz training under Up with Krayonder, Tootsie, Specs and February. We'll have some bits of Mega-Girl but she'll be an evil, crazy robot"

Meredith didn't notice her own mention she was to stuck in her stare with Dylan.

"During this first bit Jaime, Jim, Jeff and AJ will be playing other Trainee Rangers and Nick we going to have you using a puppet but it's going to be one of the instructors. As for Brian you'll be playing Dr Space-Claw Senior but you'll have a mask with a voice changer so they won't know its you and Jeff's Ranger will be wearing a mask like Ghost for Call Of Duty so hopefully the audience won't guess which is which"

Brian also nearly missed his name being called he was watching Meredith she had been staring at Dylan ever since Matt had told her they'd be playing opposite each other again. It was so unfair he'd been there waiting for so long and now Dylan swooped back in and Meredith was all over him.

"So at the end of the first act the Rangers and Bug are going to arrive back on Earth and find that in the X amount of years the team have been in space, the traditional Rangers no longer exist. And this is where the new characters come in Jeff, Jaime, Jim and AJ you'll be playing these new characters there going to be a bit like the Borg from Star Trek except you'll look like 7 of 9 with just a some metal bits"

"That's so awesome" Jeff murmured the other 3 nodded in argument.

"You'll all have your own separate story lines but basically the new and improve Junior played by Brian who is the leader its all in the script but that's the basics. Everyone happy"nods echoed through the group. "Okay so lets have a script read through and then you can split into your pairs in the rehearsal schedules and start running lines. Lets get going".

* * *

After over 2 hours of script read through characters had already began to take shape, jokes and gags were being cut and add left, right and centre, accents were developing and all of the angst of the early day had mostly dissipated and the group were slipping back into there normal (or more to the point there crazy-all-over-the-place) routine.

* * *

Eventually the group split up into there pairing and Lauren and Brian headed to a quiet corner to practice a confrontation scene between Taz and Junior Mark 2. But Lauren notice that during the entire time Brian kept steal glances towards where Meredith and Dylan where running lines.

"Okay Bri what's going on" Lauren asked sliding down the wall to sit next to him on the floor.

"Nothing, its just nothing really" Lauren decided to not to say anything and simply fixed him in a judgemental stare. "Okay alright Lo you win" Lauren smiled. "Its just Meredith and Dylan".

"What do you mean?" Lauren asked even more confused than before.

"Look at them. There all over each other" Brian grunted.

"And why does this bother you?"

Brian took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling for a beat as if contemplating whether to tell Lauren or not "I really like her Lo" Brian murmured meeting Laurens eyes.

"I'm sorry. What?" Lauren was even more confused than before. Surely Brian couldn't like Meredith not like that.

"I like Meredith. I have done forever" Lauren felt her stomach drop "And now Dylan's back and there all over each other and I kept my mouth shut for so long. I didn't want to ruin what we had and now I've may have lost any chance I had" Brain sighed burying his head in his hands. Lauren was in shock she couldn't react or do anything at all.

"Okay Guys its been a long day I think its been a long day. We'll see you all bright and early tomorrow" Matt yelled from the corner.

"I gotta get out of here thanks for listen Lo" Brain smiled and patted her on the knee before heaving himself up and mopping away. Lauren still couldn't move, she couldn't believe what she had just heard. Walker spotted Lauren still sat on floor and walked over sliding down to sit where Brian was just moments before.

"Her likes Meredith, Joe." Lauren murmured finally coming out of her haze just enough to speak.

"Oh Dead-god Lopez" Joe sighed moving round in front of Lauren to look her in the eye and saw a small tear trying to escape from the corner of her eye. Joe quickly pulled her into a tight hug and Lauren buried her face in his shirt trying to stop the tears from falling.

"You really like him don't you" Joe whispered in her ear.

"I'm in love with him Joe" Laurens voice was muffled by Joe's shirt.

Joe pulled back a little so he could look her in the eye "How long?"

"Not when we where dating. I promise Joe" Lauren looked startled.

"Hey it's ok. I know" Joe said pulling her back into a hug "You know I'm always here for you Lo-zzies"

"Thanks Joe-Joe" Lauren giggle before giving a small sniff and pulled away smiling at him. Joe stood pulling Lauren to her feet and walking out of the studio, flicking off the lights and leaving the studio ready for the chaos of the next day.

* * *

So what do you guys think.

Pigwidgeon you got some Lauren and Walker. They had a relationship in the past its like I planned it from the beginning. I do have some more LaurWalk coming or whatever there called so watch this space

Please REVIEW and keep adding me to your story alerts you have no idea how happy I am every-time I get a review or alert from one of you. THANK YOU XX


	4. Problems at Home

**Hey Guys so Chapter 4. Sorry for the huge delay. I have no excuse this time, just lack time really.**

**Once again a HUGE thank you to everyone who has add me to there Story/ Author Alerts. And special thanks to Writey Starkid, Your average Gryffindor Girl, Logan the Awesome, Starkidtheatregeek, urNotPERMITTEDtoTOUCH, Haven14, Im-just-peachy, Pigwidgeon, dellw919, CLJR and swimfis5 for you amazing reviews. I have had reviews from some of you as just Guest please put a pen name or something at the bottom so I can thank you properly. But THANK YOU to all of you who reviewed.**

**Sorry this chapter is so short. I didn't want to put to much into it and confuse it. **

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The second day of rehearsal went much the same as the first with one exception Walker was late.

"Okay so after scene 3 we're going to take a quick break and then launch straight back in with the start of Act 2" Matt stood at the front of the group reading off of the rehearsal plan "Any questions?"

Lauren's hand shot into the air "Where's Walker?"

Everyone in the group shrugged or shaked their heads. "It is Joe I mean even Matt calls him Slow Walker" Moses jested. The group shared a small laugh that as quickly as it began faded away. It was true that Joe was often late but he rarely was this late unless it was something really important.

"Do you think one of us should call him" Jaime asked her voice showing every last bit of concern. Just as Matt was about to reply Joe burst through the door "Hey Guys, I know I'm late. I am so sorry" Joe dumped his bag on the floor and rushed over to stand next to Matt "So what are we doing first" he turned to the group who where all sat with there mouths agape, staring up at him. "What, you know I'm always late. Come on, what's first?"

"Um, Act 1 Scene 7 I guess" Matt stammered. "Okay lets go then"

The rest of the group took their places or found a comfortable place to settle and watch the scene. Joe tried his best to focus on the scene but the events of the morning which had caused him to be late kept streaking around his head.

* * *

The bedside alarm stirred Joe awake from his restless sleep. The digital display showed the time as 7:00am he knew he didn't have to be at rehearsal until 9:00 but this time he was determined not to be late this time. Joe tipped toed out of his room, trying as hard as possible not to wake the rest of guys- he knew the rest of them wouldn't be up yet it only took 15minutes to get from Starkid Manor to the new studio-and made his way to the bathroom. 10 minutes later he emerged from the bathroom checking the corridor quickly to make sure that his shower hadn't woken anyone and crept down to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Hey Mom, no we started rehearsals yesterday today's are second rehearsal" Joe was stood in line at Starbucks. He had left the Manor early with the intention of grabbing a coffee for rehearsal's.

"Oh that's good Honey. But I thought you weren't going to do this show" Joe could tell his Mom was concerned and she had every right to be. "Your nearly 26 now. I thought you wanted to head out to LA and start making a name for yourself"

"I know Mom but every time I think I'm ready to leave I just can't" Joe sighed into the phone "Just a sec Mon" Joe quickly ordered his coffee and took a seat next the window.

"Look Joseph you know your Farther and I are completely supportive of whatever you want to do. We just think that these Starkid shows are starting to take over your life a little bit"

"What do you mean?" Joe was confused his mothered had always been happy for him, he knew she wanted him to strive for bigger things but this was something else.

"I mean, I think if your not careful you'll never be able to leave. And eventually all you'll friends will leave to pursue real jobs and you'll have nothing" Joe could hear a great sadness in his mums voice.

"What's going on Mom?. You've always supported me. Whats changed?" Joe heard her take a deep breath.

"I didn't want to tell you like this Honey, but, your Farther was taken to hospital last night" her voice was racked with sobs.

"What, what happened?"

"Its his illness honey. The doctors say it's only going to get worse"

"What do you want me to do?"

"That's up to you. I can't tell you to come home as much as I want to. Its your life now Honey, you've got to make your own decisions. But if you want my advice I think you should go to LA"

"What about Dad and Starkid"

"Forget about Starkid, you need to think about what's best for you now. And as for your Farther. I'll let you know when the time is closer. I have to go now Honey. I love you"

"I love you too Mom, tell Dad I said Hi" Joe heard a sniff on the other end of the line and then the call went dead. He slipped the phone back into his pocket and buried his head in his hands. Could he really leave Starkid. They were his friends, his family but maybe his Mom was right, maybe it is time to start thinking about himself. Joe picked up his coffee and headed for his car. All he knew was he needed more time to decided. The time display showed 9:10am and it was still another 20 minute drive to the studio. So much for not being late.

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**So there we go another angsty chapter sorry about that guys. I'm still trying to introduce everyone's storylines. There will be some more Starkid shenanigans properly in the next chapter or the one after that. **

**PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING. I love hearing from you guys. Till next time.**

**Moonshoes94 xx**


	5. Brovolo and Taz

Hey Guys I'm Back Again

This ones short I'm afraid it's been a bit of a busy week and as you may have noticed I have started a second story that I am writing simultaneously called A Fortunate Accident so go check that out.

Now for the thank you's. A big thanks to everyone who has added me or my story to your following and a special thanks to my ever lovely reviewers urNotPERMITTEDtoTOUCH, Pigwidgeon, Your average Gryffindor Girl, CLJR, Starkidtheatregeek, RedvineRachel, Catie and PenMagic. Your reviews and follows keep me motivated and on my toes and are always challenging me and my ideas to make them even better. :) 3

* * *

By 11:00 the second day of rehearsals was well under way. Joe had forgotten all about the stress of the morning-or at least put it to the back of his mind. Lauren had stopped pining over Brian for the mean time and Brian had decided to simply ignore Dylan and Meredith how seemed to be getting closer by the minute. Even Joey and Jaime had managed to put there difference to the side and the group were back in there stride.

"Listen jou idiotas, if you don't get off you rechoncho butts and get going. I am going to make you wish that you were burning in the pits of infierno"

"Woah Dude, I'm sorry I totally flunked French" Moses and Lauren had been running the same scene for the last hour mostly because they were both trying to make the other crack and it was fair to say that the rest of the cast were getting a bit tired of it.

"Jeff, Jeff, " Jim whispered trying to catch the attention of the man sat a little way across the room. Jeff glanced at Jim,grinned and slide over to sit next to him.

"How about we liven things up a bit" Jim whispered.

Jeffs face light up a little "What do you have in mind?" Jim leaned in whispering in Jeffs ear as Jeffs grin grew. Across the room Brian watched them intensely, wondering what they were up to.

Jeff got up from where he was sat next to Jim and made his way over to sit next to Brian "Hey Brian" Jeff whispered in a sickly sweet voice carefully drawing out ever letter of his name.

"What do you want Jeff?" Brian sighed.

"Nothing" Jeff chimed in the same treacle voice. "OH, LAUREN" Jeff shouted out in a mockery of Brian's voice that was slightly to low.

"Yes Brain" Jim replied walking on his knees over to Jeff causing the group to laugh.

"Oh little hobbit, I love you so" Brain flushed and buried his head in his lap as Jeff pulled Jims head to his chest. Lauren was still on stage with Moses and was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

"Hey, jou idiotas. Are jou interrupting me?" the group burst in to laughter as Lauren jumped from the stage still in her Taz persona landing bent kneed and thumping the ground with her fist. "Because if jou are. Well I don't think I need to tell you what might happen" Lauren said slipping out of her Taz accent and pounding her fist on her hand. Steadily advancing on the two boys who had now broken apart and were slowly backing away from the tiny girl.

"Crap" Jim murmured "Lauren your scaring me" Jims voice quivered slightly with real fear but none of the group laughed this time.

"You should be scare" Lauren whispered charging at Jim and jumping on to his back. The room erupted into laughter and cheers of encourage for at least one person, if not both.

"Voy a hacer que usted desea que nunca nacieron" Lauren slipped back into her Taz persona clinging easily to Jims back as he failed around. Jim tripped over a one of the bags strewn across the floor and Lauren jumped off before he hit the ground and clapped her hands together. Laughter echoed behind her and Lauren turned to see Jeff still stood doubled over with laughter, he quickly stopped when he saw Laurens glare.

"Jeff can we learn from this" Lauren said pointing to Jim who was sat up on the floor rubbing his arse.

"Y-y-yes Mama" Jeff stuttered.

"Okay" Lauren bounced over to the staging area. "Mr director if you are ready can we resume?"

Matt was stood open mouthed at Lauren before shaking his head and nodding. "Yeah, go ahead"

"Hey Jeff" Holden called across the room "Don't tell me to go say I'm the one, excuse me but you just stuttered" the room erupted into giggles whilst Lauren grinned smugly from the stage and shared a wink with Brian that made her heart flutter.

"Yes alright, reset guys we still have a lot to cover" Matt sighed and rehearsals started off again.

* * *

Okay so review tell me what you think. What you want to see and what you don't want to happen (other than Joe leaving).

Also I need a Beta some one to check the grammer and spelling. Also this would mean you would get the next chapter before anyone else and would get tp have some input as to the direction of the story. Send me a private message if your up for it.

Moonshoes94 xx


	6. AUTHOR NOTE VERY IMPORTANT

Hey Guys I'm sorry for this because I know some of you will have gotten excited that there was a new chapter and its just an authors note. But this is IMPORTANT.

I'm starting university in a couple of weeks time, so I don't really have time to do to fanfics at the same time plus I have had the most insane writers block for weeks now. Every time I start writing a new chapter I end up deleting it cus it's just horrible.

SO here's the deal I do not want to see this story die. I want to see it finished and for all of you to keep reading it. So I am going to hand the story over to one of you.

If you would like to continue this story what I need you to do is send me a private message with a small sample of something you've already written. I want to make sure this story is done justice so I need to see how you write so I can see where to send it. If you do want to continue this story I will send you the original story draft (you don't have to keep to it) to give you an idea of where the story was heading (the story is still in the early stages so you can change what you want). I will also send you the pen-names of my editor and my test reader (so if you are my editor/test reader you don't get cut out-providing one of you does keep writing it of course).

Round up time:

If you would like to continue this story in my place then send me a private message with a sample of your writing (two would be preferable. One angst/ one humour seeing as you will need to write both).

If you end up writing this story then I will send you the original story plan to help you along the way and the contacts for the editor and test reader (as long as they don't mind me doing that).

Sorry I couldn't finish this myself.

So thanks guys. I know this is a bit odd but so many of you are following this story now and it seems a shame to let it die. I promise you I will find a way to keep this going and at the standard you are accustomed to.

Love

Moonshoes94 xxx


	7. Lunch and Old Tricks

**Good news guys we are back.**

**Sorry about the huge gap between chapters but I had really bad writers block and a couple of different things on the go. Then I had to find a new writer. Which means I'm proud to announce that PenMagic will now be writing this fanfiction. PenMagic is an incredible author, check out her own fanfiction backstage pass. She is also the editor for my fanfiction A Fortunate Accident. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with PenMagic on producing her first chapter and am incredible proud to present it to you now.**

**PenMagic and I came to the decision to continue posting the story here so that you guys didn't have to move. So I will send the reviews on to PenMagic and will acknowledge that she wrote each chapter in the author note.**

**Please be nice and constructive to PenMagic, she has done an amazing job with this chapter and I'm sure she will with all the future chapters.**

**Please review, I know they mean as much to PenMagic as they do to me.**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter 6**

Lunch was probably the craziest part of any Starkid day, especially when working on a production. It usually involved one person going and taking orders from those who had failed to remember to buy lunch beforehand, which was most of them. Then they would have to go to the local supermarket and try to salvage enough food to feed the pack of wolves, or at least that is what it was like sometimes.

It was such a hated job, since it required so much concentration, that the job had to be cast with straws. Well-worn and bent you could usually tell which one was the short straw and, as the newest member of the group and therefore not so practised with these things, it ended up being Jeff who got stuck with the arduous job.

"Serves you right idiota for ruining my rehearsal!" Lauren shouted with joy as Jeff groaned and pulled out his iPhone for taking notes. He had seen some of the others do it before and somewhat knew what he had to do.

"Zip it Lopez or I will have to zip it for you." He retorted, sticking his tongue out while he tried to remember what Dylan had wanted. Gentler, and with a smile on his face, he asked for the order.

But there was a reason that Jeff had drawn the short straw. As he left the room, everyone froze in position. Nico had not been able to make the production and Chris had been in Little White Lie so he didn't count as a newbie. Evanna, well she was an honorary member and her filming schedule would get in the way of play rehearsals, both of her commitments took up an awful lot of time.

As soon as the sound of the door closing was heard, they all jumped into action. "Right, so everyone knows what they are doing?" Matt called gently and everyone nodded.

It was a time old trick that Darren and Brian Holden and come up with to induct the newest members of the Starkid group. Everyone, except the core group, had gone through the prank that they pulled and even a few members of the core group had been taken by surprise. Each of the group members had a task and always had deliberately given Jeff a complicated list of things to buy, meaning that they had a longer period of time to get done what they needed to complete, as well as sending him on the longest route. And, by having much practise and rehearsals by several of them, the room was set and as ready as it needed to be within ten minutes.

"Seriously", Jeff thought as he lugged the bags of food into the building half an hour later. Had Lauren taken the joke to heart? He feared so as he was fond of Lauren like a little sister, she was the Starkid little sister, it didn't take much imagining with her hyperactive tendencies and her lack of height. But there was something that made Jeff think as he looked over the last year that he had spent with the Starkids. Lauren did sometimes sneak peeks at Brian, and Jeff was one who always managed to notice these small details. Perhaps an opportunity to talk to the hobbit would arise and, if his suspicions were true, he would have some apologising to do.

As he entered the room that he had left not half an hour ago, he suddenly stopped and was stunned into silence. There was nothing in the room. Whereas when he had left it, they had the set from Starship there, all the costumes and chairs dotted around, someone had been playing on the piano and there had been an awful lot of laughter. There was nothing. All the chairs were neatly stacked up in a pile, there was not a song sheet or page of a script on the floor, or anywhere for that matter, and the eerie silence that fell in the room made Jeff feel rather uncomfortable. Had they actually left to do whatever without him? He wasn't quite sure what they would ALL go out to get, seeing as he had got enough food to feed an army, but there was not a peep. Perhaps they were playing a practical joke on him; he had known most of the members long enough to know that they would not miss an opportunity to play a prank on the Starkid prankster.

Then, as if nothing had happened, Jim walked into the room from behind him. "Heya Jeff, where is everyone?"

Jim Povolo was not given enough credit for his acting. Although admittedly much more confident with improvisations, he was eager to get a larger role than he had played before. The Starkids were aware of his talent but his ridiculous height restricted him, where Lauren's lack of did not.

Nevertheless, he was doing well to pretend that he had no idea what was going on, whereas in fact he knew what would scare Jeff the most. "I don't know Jim; I just got back from the shops."

Jim took the bags and they dumped them at one end of the room. "I'm sure they'll turn up soon enough. They probably have gone to go and get something from somewhere." He was being vague and that wasn't convincing, the look on Jeff's face was enough proof, so he changed the subject as he peered into the bags. "Oooh, my packet of M+Ms!"

He grabbed them and Jeff grinned as he finished the Holy Musical Batman pun they had created from the sweets. "Murder and Mayhem there they are." It wasn't enough of a distraction and as they shared the chocolate M+Ms, Jeff's eyes kept darting to the door and eventually broke the silence that had come between them. "You were there when I left. Jim ,where is everyone?"

He looked at Jeff offended. "Would I lie to you? I have no idea where they are."

Just then, as if nothing had happened, all the Starkids that had mysteriously not been there when Jeff had come in, suddenly appeared. They came from behind the stacks of chairs, a random box that was lying on the floor, from behind the piano and from the wings of the stage. They sat down exactly where they had been when Jeff had left, their expressions blank. Jeff watched them with a huge frown on his face. This was definitely not normal. They sat or stood there very still for a moment, as if someone had taken a picture and captured them all there, in their normal positions.

"Guys?" Jeff's voice clearly echoed how spooked out he was by the whole event. None of them moved, not even a small reaction. "I have the food you asked me for." Again nothing and this made Jeff really start to worry as he knew how obsessed his friends were with their food and how protective they were. Not even Joey was making a move. He moved amongst them, their eyes staring straight ahead and unmoving, their faces indifferent. "Okay guys, quit the funny business, you are starting to scare me now."

That was when they all relaxed and turned to grin at the stunned Starkid. "Did we really freak you out?" Lauren grinned.

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "What's the bet that you had something to do with this?" Then he nodded, he had learned to be more open with these people. "And yes, you terrified the life out of me. I thought you guys may have left me."

Lauren automatically felt bad for Jeff. He had not had the easiest upbringing and it now hurt her to see him hurt. She sprung up from her place and gave Jeff a bear hug, just about wrapping her arms around his frame. He smiled and accepted the hug. "It's a tradition Jeff." Jim supplied and Jeff looked shocked to see his best friend smiling at him. "During the early stages of rehearsals for the next show the newest members of Starkid get a nice surprise; we deliberately rigged the short straw thing to make sure that you got the short straw so we had time to get everything ready."

Jeff looked rather comical, with his mouth hanging open in shock. "And you knew? You knew they were hiding?" Jim nodded slightly. "You crazy son of a bitch!"

Jim grinned as they both acknowledged the AVPS quote. "Okay guys, if the three Joes and both Brians grab the set pieces, we'll set up the stage and then break for lunch." Matt's authoritative voice rang out through the room.

Agreeably, those who were mentioned split up to fetch the stage pieces while the rest formed a line in front of Jeff to collect their food and hand in the money they owed him, many whispering a small apology for their actions. Lauren gave him a friendly wink as she collected the food that had to be piled into her arms. What he didn't know was that Lauren had bought loads of his favourite food and was planning on sharing it with him. Lauren was the type of person to do that kind of thing, she may be a complete idiot and child at times, but she was sincere and kind. If she hadn't been going out with Joe and had broken up with him about a month ago, Jeff might have asked her out. But he knew something was going on. She was hiding something and Joe was still very protective of her, another decent trait of the Walkster. And Jeff made a silent plea to find out exactly what the problem was and if he could help at all.

**Thanks Guys.**

**Please Review. And a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.**

**Moonshoes94 xx and PenMagic xx (she didn't technically write this part but I'm going to sign it on her behalf.)**


	8. Dull Days and a Unexpected Visitor

**Hey Guys sorry about the delay PenMagic sent this to me a couple of days ago just haven't had a chance to upload it.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed last time you guys are great. A big well down to PenMagic on another amazing chapter and thank you to Sharpie601 the editor of this fanfic awesome job. :)**

**Moonshoes94 xx**

**Chapter 7**

"Something's wrong." The statement was simple but true as Matt and Nick sat watching the cast set up, two weeks after Jeff's cast initiation into Starkid.

They were another four weeks away until they were due to perform, all the tickets had been sold and the hype for it was high. But at the same time, there was an awkwardness that had seemed to settle over the cast. Lauren had lost her usual spark of craziness and kept flicking her eyes between Walker and Brolden. Meredith was also flicking her eyes to Brolden, staying closer than Lauren was. But it was the spread out placing of JoMo and Denise that was worrying the brothers at the time. LeakyCon12 had been both brilliant and a little sad for the whole team. It had been Darren's official farewell to Harry and partly to Starkid. However to say that it was a farewell to Starkid would be unfair, the brothers had something definite up their sleeve.

"What's the bet that it has something to do with what happened at Starship?" Matt murmured to his brother who nodded in agreement.

"Such a good thing we aren't putting Krayonder and February together." Nick nodded in assent but then he started slightly. "What about Julia and Denise?" they scanned the room for the most reliable and solid member of the group. Yes, there she was, solidly working away, but closer to JoMo than to Denise.

"They need something to brighten up their day." Matt was still speaking in a low voice; the tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. "We haven't had any funny incidents since Jeff's initiation."

It was true, horrible but true. Usually Starkid had at least one mishap each day. Things seemed to be going better than they normally did and at this rate, they would be ready earlier than they had ever been. Starkid was known for its lateness in getting the musicals together and they were running ahead of schedule due to the almost lack of fun they were having. Joe hadn't played a prank on anyone since his arrival from New York, Walker hadn't tried to speak in his Up accent, only using it when absolutely necessary and Lauren's Spanish accent was even worse than when she had first attempted it. There was no need to even mention the tension between Joey and Jaime who were even further apart than JoMo and Denise.

"I've got an idea." Nick suddenly started and jumped up. "I've gotta go, you hold the fort and maybe play some improvisation games with them, anything but the musical today."

"What?" Matt spluttered as his brother ran out of the room. He was the director for a reason, he was no actor. "Okay guys, hold it there, we're going to do stuff a little differently today."

They all looked at him curiously. Despite the mayhem that usually ensued on a normal day in Starkid, they always had a set thing of what they had to do and, as it was usually a smaller amount than they could have got done due to all the craziness that normally occurred, they got it all done. So for Matt, who set the timetable each day, to change this up suddenly meant something. Dutifully, they all drew up a chair.

Matt was racking his brains, what could he get them up on their feet and potentially laughing about. "Okay guys, leave the chairs!" he called as they were about to set them up and they all stopped. "Come and sit, cross legged on the floor in a circle." They were all mystified and even Lauren didn't protest to their director, unsure of what the normally level-headed director was going to do. And, as Nick had predicted, no one noticed the younger Lang's disappearance. Matt started to circle the group, noticing how each of the awkward relationship pairs had stationed themselves so that the other was almost out of sight so they didn't have to look at them. Well, that was going to be jumbled up rather soon. "Guys, this is not like you. I don't know, nor partly care, what has been going on but this is not normal Starkid behaviour and it isn't cool. So, we are going to be doing improvisations for the next hour." There were a few smiles but no one really seemed to have their hearts in it. Matt knew that the game they would start off with would be one that many of them would not have been played in a long time but hopefully would get their childish instincts back into kick.

"So, what are we going to be playing?" Lauren asked, the edge of a smile pulling at the side of her lips.

Matt did not reply, merely walking around the circle before tapping Denise on the head. "Duck." At the simple word, many smiles started to pull at the edge of people's faces as they knew what was coming around. And, as they had suspected, Matt continued round the circle, tapping each person's head, uttering the one word "Duck." The rules of Duck, Duck, Goose was very simple and it was unending so when Nick walked back into the room fifteen minutes later, he was glad to see the tension in the room broken, Joey chasing JoMo around the circle, desperately trying not to be it again.

Matt looked over to him and Nick nodded in assent, the plan was set. There was something good about having old friends in the area who were willing to come back for a surprise. "Looks like you guys are having fun." He spoke up and they turned to him, some doing a double take having not realised that he had left. "Now perhaps we can get on with rehearsals with a little more of a smile on our faces."

They all nodded, the tension in the room had clearly disappeared and although as they got up, the same energy that had been there a moment ago had slightly reduced but it was still different from a few minutes ago all the same. The set was now complete, all that they could do to help them. "Okay guys, let's go from the top. Lauren, if you wouldn't mind."

The rest of the cast moved to the sides of the 'stage' which was the huge floor spaces, marker tape giving the measurements for the stage they would be performing on and the length of the wings, space to pull on and off set. Lauren stood on the stage alone, she was starting the musical for the first time, and it was a privilege. Darren, Joey, Corey and Dylan had all done it and now it was time for a female to start the whole thing off, glad that the brothers had finally noticed the lack of female leadings in the musicals.

The rehearsal seemed to go smoothly, well the first half an hour did. That was if you didn't count Lauren trying to make Walker laugh on stage and Brian almost accidently elbowing Meredith in the face, but it was usual Starkid mishaps so no-one cared. The scene was a verbal fight between Krayonder and Tootsie, something that seemed almost coincidental and Matt was half-inclined to stop the scene. He knew, from conversations with Dylan, that he had feelings towards Denise and JoMo seemed to sense this too, the verbal abuse almost seemed to be coming from them, the actors and not the characters.

Then a voice came from the doorway that no one had heard in over a year. The voice of someone who had been dear to them right up until the awkward moment when the whole 'Glee' issue had come up. It hadn't affected anyone except them. "So, what is all this I hear about my friends fighting over their love lives. Come on you lot, what happened to TEAM Starkid? What happened to the group I haven't seen and yet you've all changed? What's happened?"

It was as if everyone had gone into slow motion. They all turned to look at the newcomer standing in the doorway. Except she wasn't a newcomer, she was very much an old hand, and no one was quite sure that this would help. The only thing they were sure of was that it was a jolly good thing Darren wasn't here.

**Hope you guys enjoyed it and are all looking forward to finding out who the mysterious newcomer is (I know I am). PLEASE REVIEW. Every time you review a little more joy is born into the world.**

**DFTBA**

**Moonshoes94 xx**


	9. Little Birdies

**Moonshoes94: Hey Guys new chapter yay so PenMagic the author of this has something to say to you all so listen up.******

_**PenMagic: Hello! I realise I haven't actually properly introduced myself, I'm PenMagic! I write six stories including this one, ranging Starship/Starkid, Glee, Harry Potter and Hunger Games so go and check them out if you want to!**_

_**I just wanted to put a small warning about this chapter and the next couple of ones. There is going to be a degree of swearing perhaps, I haven't decided, but I don't swear on principle so...yeah...but this is a VERY important message you should read:**_

_**What happens here is entirely fictional. Why the events that occured did is not known by the fandom and the story I am telling is completely based on what some people have heard with regards to rumours. I do not want anyone to think any less of any of the Starkids as a result of the next few chapters and I hope you will still love the person to whom I am referring to, you will know by the end of the chapter, after this. If you are affected by any of the issues that may be covered here, do not hesitate to PM me. Also, if you have a correction and know the true reason then do let me know, as I would not want to be too inaccurate.**_

_**Anyway, on that somber note, enjoy the story! I am completely useless at Georgraphy in England (where I live) let alone the USA so the timing estimate between Chicago and Columbus is probably way out but let's just pretend, shall we?!**_

**Moonshoes94: Well said. So enjoy the chapter and review :).**

* * *

Teaching was hard work. She just hadn't quite realised how hard it would be. Sure she had known about marking and getting lessons, ready etc. but how her teachers had managed to get through all this work, she would never know. Teaching drama was easier than some of her colleagues had it, but at 24, she was still struggling. She had been at school for two years now and never once had she looked back. Sometimes, she admitted to herself, she regretted not sticking around, seeing as how popular her friends were. But that was all in the past, and so was the reason why she had left.

As she dismissed her class and packed up her belongings the chill in the Columbus air not even trying to hide, she felt her phone ring. She was surprised by the caller ID, it was someone whom she still had on her contact list but hadn't spoken to in years, not since then. They were part of her past but somehow she knew that Nick would persist in calling her. They may be behind her but she still remembered each of their quirks, persistence was definitely one of Nick's attributes.

"Nick, what a pleasant surprise!" The opening liner was genuine.

The voice on the other end of the phone chuckled. "Yeah, I didn't know when I'd hear from you again." She felt a lump rise in her throat. The last time she had seen them was when she had slammed a door in their faces and stormed out. And it was definitely not the best time to be calling for the group if the rumours on twitter held out to be true.

She nodded. "Yeah, so what calls you, quite literally, to Columbus? You missed my class of energetic sophomores by about 5 minutes."

He laughed again, it was light-hearted and luckily nothing had come up about what had happened two years ago. "I need your help. As weird as it may sound, I think you might be the only person who can sort out the situation that we have going on at the moment."

She frowned, now that wasn't what she was expecting from her old friend. She raised her eyebrow. "Well Nick, now that has my attention. What do you mean I can help with the situation? How may I try to be of assistance? I haven't seen anyone since…then…" Both adults winced slightly at the mention of the incident that had left Starkid shaken more than it had ever been, further than it was right now.

Nick sighed; he really didn't have any choice. He knew that neither he nor Matt would be able to fix it alone. They needed someone who was both in and out of the loop of Starkid. Someone who knew most of the Starkids but perhaps did not know all of them. Therefore she was perfect.

"Can you head over here? I'll send through the co-ordinates. I need you to come and see some old friends."

She was stumped. While she was still upset about what had happened and had got over it all, it really would be an emergency if they called her. Checking her teacher's schedule, she realised that she was free for the day. Luckily, it wasn't a long drive to Chicago. Across the state border and she'd be there in forty minutes. "I'm on my way now. Call me back in five when you've sent me the details and I've hit the highway."

"Right, will do so." Nick hung up and, still confused as to why her old friends were suddenly in need of her, she wound her way out of the school and through to the teacher's car park, finding her small Volvo tucked away and throwing her stuff into it before heading out of the car park.

Checking her phone, she registered the co-ordinates that Nick had sent her into her GPS before heading onto the main highway in the direction she knew would lead her towards Chicago. She wasn't quite sure how she knew that they had moved to Chicago; perhaps she was watching the tweets of her old friends too closely. Now back onto the highway and heading west towards Illinois, her phone rang once more and she put it onto loudspeaker and into the hands-free phone set before speaking.

"Heya Nick, I'm good now!" she was strangely more cheerful than she thought. "Alright, dude. Fill me in on what's been going on, or at least what you suspect is going on."

Nick sighed; he knew this would take the entire journey she had. "Well, let me say that it all started when I heard a little something from a little birdy known as Povolo."

She snorted. "Little? Wow Nick, put that as a line for you to him and you have a new recurring Starkid joke. Okay, fill me in and I'll see what I can make of it. Start from the beginning, it's a rather good place to start."

Nick took a deep breath again and started, from the beginning as he had promised. She listened patiently as the story continued, making the occasional remark, hum, or nod which of course Nick couldn't see but she made them all the same. Thankfully she couldn't see anything that might have been triggered by her, although the mention of Dylan taking Tootsie's role after Darren landed the role on Glee did make her squirm slightly. She and Darren had been good friends before the bust up; did they even have a proper name for what had happened? That had been both their decisions but predominantly his fault. She would have made a bet that they would still be friends if it hadn't been for what had happened. She couldn't have let her beliefs get in the way, her faith mattered and sadly it had meant breaking off a friendship. Good thing it hadn't been a relationship that would have been even more awkward.

At the end, there was a pause as she considered what he had been telling her. It was both not a lot to take in and a lot. She and Lauren had been fairly good friends and she knew the boy in question, very well. Perhaps too well for it to be good right now. But there was one name that niggled in the back of her mind. "Nick, who is Jeff Blim? Where does he fit in the Michigan mix? I swear I recognise his name from somewhere but I can't put my finger to it."

Nick coughed, perhaps knowing wasn't such a good thing then. "Jeff did theatre with Dylan and Darren," cue another awkward shift, "and then transferred to do his final year in California. He was with the group in the beginning but gradually grew apart. He and Julia had dated for a little and there was a huge row at the end of their relationship, you might remember the day. 2nd June 2008, majorly awkward in the basement." She nodded, now the memory was flooding back and there had been a reason why she had forgotten it. "Funnily enough, it was her who found him when we realised we needed someone to play the candy villain in Holy Musical Batman. Julia somehow managed to get over the feelings and invite him to test it out. Well the rest, as they say, is history."

She nodded; wow she had missed a lot. "Any other heartbreak, disasters and general hatred between the group that I should know about?"

Nick shook his head, suppressing a chuckle. "No, Starkid are up to their usual crazy ways."

She sighed. "I do have to admit it, I missed the craziness. Although the freshmen class first thing every day is very interesting and tiring. Almost as bad as you guys."

Nick really did laugh then. "I think Lauren would take it as a great compliment to be compared to a freshman in energy levels." She laughed, it was so true. "Actually thinking about it, most of them would be extremely honoured to be compared like that by a teacher."

She suddenly noticed what her GPS was saying. "Hey Nick, I'll be with you in about two or three minutes. How does that sound?"

"Great, I'll meet you outside."

Pulling up outside the building, she frowned at the admittedly dismal feel that it gave off; her instincts told her that this wasn't their first rehearsal space since her departure and move to Chicago and that Lauren and Joey's antics must have had something to do with it. Climbing out of the car, she double checked it was locked and headed towards the building. Nick was at the door and he pulled the lady into a hug, there was no need for words as they had already caught up. Nick lead the way to a door and pushed it open before she stepped through, letting the man fold into the shadows like he was so used to doing. She knew she needed to be sharp, she had to deal with these loons and get their attention.

So she took a deep breath, half anticipating their reaction and called loudly across the room to where she could see AJ in the corner scribbling on some paper. "So, what is all this I hear about my friends fighting over their love lives. Come on you lot, what happened to TEAM Starkid? What happened to the group I haven't seen and yet you've all changed? What's happened?"

It was as if everything had gone into slow motion. As each person registered who was standing in the doorway, their jaws seemed to drop. Every single person in the room knew who she was, even those who she had met briefly. Lauren slid off her perch from the stage, a ridiculous (but no more than usual) wig on her head and her expression almost comical. She seemed to be the only one who wasn't frozen solid by her presence.

The picture remained frozen except for Lauren registering everyone's expressions. Then she finally spoke, spilling the name of a friend she hadn't seen for a long time and she had secretly hoped never to see again. "Bonnie."


	10. Tension and Air-miles

PenMagic: Hello! I am so sorry about this being so late! I know that it has been since January and I apologies profusely! Just to remind you that everything that happens IS FICTIONAL! I do not go based on fact unless it is something that we definitely know for sure. So yeah...make sure you remember this is a story! I hope that you like this chapter, I will try to get Chapter 11 done as soon as possible. My writing might slow down a little again because I have exams coming up and I have to revise for them but I hope you will be patient and continue with this story! Thank you!

Also, please tell me you guys saw AVPSY? Did it kill anyone else? Okay, I'm not the only one then...phew...

Moonshoes94: I was dead for the whole day I got nothing else done. In other news really excited for Judas and Twisted.

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Chapter 10

Nobody quite knew what to say or do. No one had seen Bonnie since the fight and no one had really had the heart to try and contact her. The group had been split, but the majority had been on Darren's side. Whether anyone was going to remember and still have a grudge towards Bonnie was now the biggest question.

It was Jeff who made the first move. He had gone to California before they had started on AVPM so therefore had not been here for the incident and he came around to where Bonnie was standing in her pencil skirt, her hair pulled back into a high ponytail. "Jeff Blim, you must be Bonnie Grueson." He extended a hand.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Oh, you're Jeff. The guys mentioned you several times, said you were a great guy." The warmth in her voice was genuine; perhaps this was going to be easier than the Langs had hoped for.

Jeff winked back at Joe and Brian who were standing emotionless. "I should hope so. So what brings you here?"

He was doing a good job of trying to release the tension in the air, even the most oblivious members of the group were aware that the tension in the air could be cut with a knife. The conversation was stilted and the obvious questions with the awkward replies from both of them.

Just then, it was a relief when suddenly the sound of 'Kick It Up A Notch' rang out from someone's phone. It was not so much of a relief as it further put into the mind, the thoughts of why there was tension between Bonnie and the group. But instead of leaving it to ring, there was an awkward cough and Joe turned red.

"Sorry guys, mind if I take this? It's my mom." It sounded rather childish but the pleading in Joe's eyes meant that Matt nodded.

"Sure thing Joe, send her our regards."

Joe pressed accept call as he walked out of the room, his hand shaking slightly. "Hey Mom?"

The voice at the other end of the phone was even worse than he had feared. "Joe?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Joe's voice dropped automatically and he sunk down by a wall. "What's happened? Is it dad?"

This was the last thing that Joe wanted. He and his father had always been close and he valued his support and faith in him more than ever. Whatever he might say about Starkid, his father had supported him from the beginning and he knew his father would always support him. "He's back in hospital Joe."

He could tell that his mother was hiding something from him; there was always something that was extra with his father in his hospital visits. His father had been diagnosed with cancer two years ago, just after the Bonnie incident coincidentally and it had seemed to have gone downhill from there. He had never quite gone into remission fully and was in and out of hospital.

"What more is there? How long is he going to be in there mom? Come on, don't leave me hanging." He was desperate, he couldn't deal with it.

His mom's voice was choked and Joe now feared the worst. "They don't know how long he's going to be in here Joe. But he's not going to be there very long. It's terminal Joe, and he doesn't have long to live." Joe stopped. What? Terminal? His grandfather had died before he was born and other than that, he hadn't known anyone who had died someone close to him. "He wants to see you before he goes."

Joe was shaking on the floor, not noticing the tears that were falling fast down his cheeks. It only came to his attention when he tried to speak but all that came were sobs. Eventually he managed to compose himself enough to reply to his mother who was in no doubt in the same state as he was. "I'm coming right away, stuff today's rehearsal. It's been messed up enough with all the tension between the couples," he had to choke back another sob as he thought of Lauren, "and Bonnie's just arrived so it's all mega awkward."

There was a small chuckle from his mother, she knew about all the antics that his friends got up to, the Bonnie-Darren incident was hard to forget. "I suspect so darling. We're in the same place as normal."

Joe nodded. "Okay, I'll ring Darren and see if I can use some of his air miles to get a ticket for the next flight."

He could tell that his mother was starting to calm down now, knowing that her son would be by her side. "Thank you Joe, your father cannot wait to see you."

And she rang off. Joe sat there, trying to control his breathing as he processed everything that he had just heard and said he would do. Checking the time, he approximated that Darren would just be waking up so there would be no problem in calling him. Punching in his friend's number, yes he knew it off by heart but who cared; he called the flat in LA.

It picked up after just two rings. "Its six am on a Saturday Joe, what the heck are you thinking?" In any other situation, Joe would have grinned at the irritation in his friend's voice; admittedly he had forgotten that it was a Saturday.

But it was different. "Sorry for waking you Darren, but I need a favour." Joe could only bring himself to speak just above a whisper and he could tell that Darren had picked up on this immediately.

"Joe, talk. What do you need?" His voice was filled with concern and Joe was thankful that he had such kind and sensitive friends.

"I'll talk about it later, when I've got over the shock. Do you have enough air miles to get me to Boston?"

He could hear Darren turning on his computer and checking his balance. "Easily, more than enough. Is it your dad?"

Everyone knew about Joe's father and the group had somehow become more tightknit as a result of it. Joe took a deep breath; he would have to speak at some point. "He's dying Dare, mom just rang me and he's gonna be gone in a matter of hours."

He could hear Darren typing at the other end, but he knew his friend was being totally attentive. That man was a seriously able multi-tasker. "I'm so sorry Joe, I'm just booking them in your name and your card but it won't be charged, just identification purposes."

Joe nodded numbly on the other end of the phone. "Sounds like working for Glee and going on that tour did have a positive side."

Darren's rough chuckle echoed down the line. "Yeah, looks like it did. Plus flying to various LeakyCons and…sorry," Darren smiled to himself, "I'm rambling as usual." He clicked something in a final-like way. "There we are. Your flight is in two hours, I suggest you go now, it's only an hour flight."

Joe nodded as Darren spelt out the details and noted them down on a piece of paper. Once they had gone over it all, Joe nodded. "Thank you so much Dare."

"Hey, it's okay, anything for a friend." Darren's voice was sincere which Joe felt comforted by. "You go and do what you need to do. Let me know when you need flights back and I'll sort those out as well."

"See you Darren; we all miss you over here. You go get 'em." Joe managed a very small smile on his face as he rang off.

Joe sat in the corridor, feeling his hair being squashed as he pushed his head against the locker, his head tilted back and his eyes watching the ceiling. Somehow things seemed to be going from bad to worse today. He knew how much worse it could get but he wasn't going to risk anything. Now he just had to hope that the tension in the room was slightly less than it had been before. Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself up off the floor. He knew he was going to have to face them at some point and he didn't have long until his flight left, he had to pack an overnight bag and it was a good half an hour drive to the airport. His shoes clacked against the polished floor of the corridor as he walked down in silence. As he re-entered the room, all eyes turned to him. Most of the group had moved from when he had last seen them and the tension seemed to be a little more relaxed, but he mentally noted that Julia, Lauren and Brolden had not moved from their positions. Perhaps this was because they had been closest to Darren and had most violently opposed Bonnie and her argument but Joe no longer cared.

"Is everything okay Joe?" Julia asked, fighting to keep the bitterness out of her voice that would be directed at Bonnie.

Joe shook his head as he walked over and picked up his bag. "Sorry guys, but I have to go. Not forever, I just have to head home for a couple of days. I'll probably be back sooner or later, I don't know when though. I promise it'll be less than five days…I just don't know."

And with that, he walked out of the door, leaving the confused Starkids to wonder what on earth was going on. As he drove back to his apartment, he felt his phone buzz multiple times and he knew his friends were trying to contact him. But he ignored them and found himself rushing around his apartment at top speed as he tried to locate some clean clothes from somewhere. He never thought that there would be a time when buying fandom merchandise would actually come in handy, Joe thought wryly as he stuffed his Hufflepuff t-shirt into his small suitcase which he used when flying for short visits.

Twenty minutes later and he was packed his key turning in the lock to his apartment and he caught the bus to the airport. Someone was looking kindly down on him today with regards to traffic and queues as the bus came immediately and there was no traffic as it sped towards the airport. Jumping out with the rest of the passengers, Joe made his way around to the right check in desk; he knew the airport like the back of his hand and handed over his flight details.

The wait for the airplane wasn't long and as Joe climbed aboard, it was only then that he was hit again with the full reality of what was happening. He was about to lose the single most important man in his life. How would he live? Could he? Looking at his phone, he saw several messages:

Lopez: Joe, if you wanna talk, you know I'm here. I'll always be here for you.

Lang 1: Are you okay buddy?

Brolden: dude, totally here for you if you wanna phone. Rehearsals in shambles without you.

Jules: do you wanna tell me what's happened? I'm guessing your dad but I'm not going to make assumptions.

Joe seriously considered calling Julia, they were close and Julia was an incredible listener. She offered the best advice. But then he decided against it. The person he needed right now was his dad, and he was slipping out of his fingers faster than water. So Joe slipped into his window seat as he felt the plane prepare for take-off, Joe tuned out of the safety announcements and stared out of the window, unashamedly letting a tear slide down his cheek.


End file.
